ON THIS PAGE:
- Interview with Mark Cousins for Marcia su Roma
- ANAC’s 70th anniversary exhibit
- Adam Driver
- Catherine Deneuve
Mark Cousins: «My March of Rome, a vaccine for the democracy»
«I love cinema, I think images are amazing, but this time I was in front of images that crush people and then it’s to fall in despair». For the Irish director Mark Cousins revising the mechanism of fascist propaganda and the testimonies of its horrors with his documentary March of Rome was an emotional challenge. The movie opened the Venice Days. Cousins presented the film (produced by Palomar in collaboration with Il Saggiatore and CSC) along with the authors Tommaso Renzoni and Tony Saccucci, the latter co-screenwriter of the documentary. The political critic does not spare many contemporary leaders such as Viktor Orbán, Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni. «We are not saying » Cousins specific «that these politicians are like Mussolini, but we believe that they are giving room to extremely dangerous things, and then the direction they are heading to is not positive». «We can say», the director says, «that fascism is not a straight line, but a cycle that repeats itself, as we can see in Brazil and other countries». From this point of view March of Rome, exposing and deconstructing the distorted use of the media to strengthen movements and authoritarian regimes wants to be, according to the filmmaker and his co-authors, «a vaccine for democracy». The documentary focuses on the much-discussed opportunity to preserve or not art and remains of former dictatorships. «I think that nothing should be destroyed,» Cousins says. For example, he believes Nazi artefacts should be «transferred to museums and preserved for academic reasons». Alba Rohrwacher plays the allegoric character of Anna. «When you make a movie like this», the director explains, «there’s the risk to have a lot of background and nothing forefront, but it’s important to have both levels. I felt the need to have someone who looks us in the eyes just like this character do». About Rohrwacher Cousins adds: «I never met her, but I always admired her. I know her sister Alice. I sent her an e-mail asking her if Alba could have been interested. After 30 minutes, Alba answered “Yes, yes, yes!”».
Emanuele Bucci
An exhibition for the 70 years of ANAC
1952: in the studio of a solicitor was founded Anac, the national association of cinema authors. Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, Italo Moscati and Alessandro Rossetti set up the exhibition The Last Wave to celebrate 70 years of the association. The show opens Today at Sala Laguna and will travel to Rome for the House of Cinema after the festival. «70 years is not a short period. It was not easy to stand in a totally different situation – Francesco Ranieri Martinotti says- Anac never stops to talk freely and make political and civil battles linked to our country’s storytelling. We made this exhibition in a movie theatre because we believe movies must be seen on the big screen and the collective experience must be promoted». Among archive footage and files, there are also drawings by Scola, Pasolini e Scarpelli. «This exhibition is not just a celebration, but a historical itinerary about what happened from our foundation until Today –Rossetti adds– It’s a complex work that includes the valorization of the archive that includes a documentary dedicated to the reconstruction of the figure of the intellectual and his deep relationship with society. The exhibition is built on moving panels and is divided into eight sections, and there are drawings made by Scarpelli father and son, Pasolini and Scola, and a significant part is dedicated to what was made during the protest of ’68 in Venice. Italo Moscati was one of the protagonists of those days. We found a photo in which it is possible to spot Pasolini rising from the crowd, and among them, there’s also Italo». Today’s cinema should recover the strength if not the principles. «We know that cinema today has many issues to solve – Moscati ends – At that time, things of incredible impact were made, our cinema was flying high, now we must find a similar but different road to understanding what happened and what should happen».
Tiziana Leone
THE STARS TALK
We’ve never seen Adam Driver like this: a fat belly and a large receding headline. It’s his transformation to become Jack Gladney in Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, the opening movie of Venezia 79 presented in world premiere. Not the proper look for a sex symbol. The actor joked about this during the press conference:
«I got fat, they removed my hair, and we had a fake belly for an emergency, but we never used that. It was really mine».
“I have a vivid memory of my first time in Venice. It was 1967, and I was in the movie that won the Golden Lion, Bunuel’s Belle De Jour. Venice Film Festival has always been very important for my career.”
Catherine Deneuve yesterday received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
